Springbank 14 Year Old Amontillado Cask paired with an Alec Bradley Prensado Cigar and Chuao's Dark Grignottine Bonbon

The story of Springbank is a tale of Campbeltown's whisky tradition and one family's determination to keep distilling alive on this small and remote finger of land on the west coast of Scotland.  Situated in rich farmland with a natural harbor, Campbeltown sits on the southern tip of a misty protrusion called the Kintyre peninsula.  At one time, Campbeltown had the highest per capita income in the United Kingdom. Through the 1700's and 1800's it reigned as "The Whisky Capital" with 22 active distilleries literally outnumbering churches in this tiny township.

While it is still recognized as an official Scotch Region, Campbeltown is now considered a mere outpost of distilling.  Market conditions in the early 1900's, conspired to bring about its ruin. Ironically, that early success caused serious depletion of local coal resources, driving up production costs just as recession and Prohibition began to dramatically reduce demand.  Blenders who once favored Campbeltown's powerful and oily style begin turning to lighter spirits, hastening the downward spiral of demand. Distillers who turned to alternative Canadian markets were forced to deeply discount their brands.  In turn they often sacrificed quality, eventually causing many to collapse. While 17 facilities remained active in 1920, by mid-century only Springbank and Glen Scotia had survived.

Campbeltown's distilling history and that of the Mitchell family's are indelibly intertwined.  Archibald Mitchell, a maltster who migrated from the lowlands, operated popular but illegal stills in the late 1700's.  It was his childred that pursued the first legal license when sons Archibald and Hugh started Rieclachan distillery in 1825.  Springbank was founded three years later by John and William. But following a personal dispute, William left to join his brothers at Rieclachan, while John formed a new company with his sons and continued to operate Springbank.  Various Mitchell family enterprises continued to enrich Campbeltown over the next 40 years. John bought Toberanright from cousin Alexander Wylie, daughter Mary built Drumore Distillery in 1834 and William founded Glengyle in 1872.  By 1935 only Springbank had prevailed.

Springbank to this day is still independently owned and operated under the J & A Mitchell Co. name, by lineal descendants of Archibald Mitchell.  It uniquely processes three different brands, using three distinct distilling methods with the same equipment at the Springbank site.  This distillery is one of the last in Scotland to have its own malting floor.  Springbank not only has prevailed but it thrives. In addition to its expansion by adding the peaty double distilled Longrow and light, triple distilled Hazelburn to its portfolio, the company took on restoration of its Glengyle facility in 2004.  Glengyle is the first distillery to open in Campbeltown in over 125 years.  For its tenancity, and uncompromising quality, Springbank was recognized as Whisky Magazine's Icon of Distilling in 2010.  While we absolutely love their core expressions, we were keen to try one of the four new sherry matured expressions (Fino, Amontillado, Manzanilla & Oloroso).  We picked the Amontillado cask for this tasting. 

We can tell you that the Springbank 14 year old Amontillado expression compares to no other single malt we've tasted!!  Having been matured and not just finished in Amontillado casks, it tastes more of sherry than scotch. Nothing like the sea briney, and refreshing Springbank  house style. The aroma is a profusion of almond extract, pineapple, tangerines, furniture polish and faint cinnamon spice. At cask strength, this 14 year old is truly powerful on the palate.  At first sip it is bracing, astringent and certainly not for the timid. The Amontillado influences pack a punch of bitter almonds, caramelized orange peel and peppery spice on the tongue.  There is a very slight and momentary saltiness along with a tang that never leaves the tastebuds.  Hints of pecan pie emerge and the finish has a peculiar acidity that finally gives way to an interesting woodiness on the finish.  This is a daringly unique flavor profile and bold departure from Springbank's more familiar flavor range.  (Click on bottle to purchase)

You won't find a more perfect partner than Chuao's Dark Grignottine bonbon.  The caramelized orange peel mimics the citrusy undertones, while the slivers of roasted almonds and pistachios provide just the right nutty complement.  The slight bitterness of its rich dark chocolate coating stands up well to the robustness of the scotch, and lends just a bit of sweetness to take the edge off this spirit.  (Click on picture to purchase) 

We are not fibbing when we tell you this was a difficult whisky to match to. It's flavor profile is very different and the astringency on the palate is very tough to overcome. You would think that almonds, pecans, pepper and spice are flavors found in cigars as well, but they don't combine in this whisky the way one would expect.

So first off we tackled the astringency. Whiskies that are a higher alcohol content and/or possess an astringent nature usually benefit from a cigar that produces a heavy, creamy, mouth-coating smoke. Next, because the nuttiness in this whisky is somewhat bitter, and a woody character also tends to be a bit harsh, we needed a cigar that would sweeten things up. Taking a lesson from how the chocolate bonbon affected the whisky, we looked for a cigar with darker chocolate, caramel or coffee flavors. These flavors tend to offset the bitterness and not get lost or overpowered. Finally, while the pepper and spice are present in the Springbank, they are an interesting counterpoint and not too heavy. Thinking more is better, we also looked for a cigar with that pepper and spice component, but not so strong as to push over the top.  Now we had a formula for our cigar match. We needed a cigar with creamy, heavy smoke; primary flavors of chocolate, coffee, or caramel and accent notes of pepper and spice.

Wouldn't you know - the first cigar on our list in the Cocoa Java section was the best match - The Alec Bradley Prensado! Are we good or what! . . . . .  Actually, this was not the first one we tried though, as that would have been too easy. And while we didn't try all 35 cigars in that grouping, we did test at least half a dozen against the Springbank and the Prensado was the best.

For this pairing, the larger vitolas worked better as they tended to be smoother and creamier. Pick the Gran Toro or the Double T for this one, they are pretty good with this whisky and you get the added benefit of longer smoking times.

What we found in this pairing that made it interesting, was how the cigar affected the tasting experience. That smooth and creamy smoke really overcame the initial burn and astringency and allowed the palate to focus more on the flavors. The chocolate and coffee notes in the cigar did their job of sweetening the nutty / woody flavors, and softening the bitterness. And the pepper and spice varied enough throughout the smoke to add just enough boost here and there to punctuate the core flavors.

The Alec Bradley Prensado has been a standard cigar in our rotation for many reasons.  We like it's darker, fuller flavors and it's complexity. It also matches up well with peaty single malts, so it can pull double duty. It is box pressed and wrapped in a beautiful Corojo 2006 wrapper, so it's also a great stick to behold. The Double T is probably one of the fattest cigars out there with a ring gauge of 62, and the Gran Toro is right behind at 54, so if you want to impress your friends - unwrap one of these and pour an extra large dram of Springbank Amontillado. Then sit back and enjoy an unusually interesting pairing for the next couple of hours, from one of the last remaining Campbeltown distilleries.

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